Tag Archives: appalachia

He deserted the Confederate AND the Union armies

John Denton fought for the Confederate Army, but deserted it. Then he joined the Union Army, but deserted it even faster. And that was just the beginning of his troubles. Denton volunteered for Company B (Monroe County, TN), 3rd Tennessee Regiment of Confederate Volunteers in Knoxville, TN on May 23, 1861 and fought at Manassas. [...]

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We got by, I guess

“Well, always when they’d get up, you know, early, they’d go feed their horses to get ‘em ready for the day’s work. And then they plowed with a turning plow. They’d hook the horses to that turning plow, you know, and plow. Whatever they done on the farm, they used the horses. Just had the [...]

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Farmer or astrologer? Both!

Despite this past weekend’s heavy snowfall in many parts of the region, the thaw’s not too far off now. It’ll soon be time to think about putting in the early plants like kale or spinach. When’s the best time to plant and harvest? Well, you might rely on your own experience, dumb luck, or more [...]

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Fasnacht in Helvetia WV

Lent will be here next Wednesday, and that means that many residents of Helvetia, WV will be foregoing hosenblatt meat pastries deep-fried in lard for awhile. Tomorrow folks there will have ample opportunity to consume that delicacy, along with donuts and rosettes, at the annual Fasnacht celebration. The Swiss settlers of Helvetia combined the Catholic [...]

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The panic of 1907 leads to depositor insurance

In early 1907 consumer goods prices were high and continuing to increase, a situation set in motion by too easy credit. Most glaringly, the money center banks of New York City owed their depositors more money than the whole country possessed, real money and ‘credit money’ combined. The system couldn’t sustain itself that way any [...]

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